So basically, if it's got strings, he can play it like some sort of evil genius. It's this amazing talent that has led Mark to be the first call session guitarist in London. His credits include playing for Jeff Beck, Sting, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), So Solid Crew, Faith Hill, and Ray Davies (The Kinks). His many television and film credits include: French and Saunders, Ben Elton, Monarch of the Glen and Four Weddings and a Funeral. He was the guitarist in 'Pond Life', one of the greatest fusion bands to ever come out of the UK. In fact he has just been nominated for an EMI award. So what does it take to be this good?

Daniel Steinhardt: I wanted to ask you about your approach to sessions. You have this amazing ability to play so many different genres and styles. How do you get so good at each one?

Mark Johns: You need to mentally and physically adapt to the kind of music that you're playing. If I'm doing a classical piece I will hold the guitar very different than doing any other style. My wrist will be different, I hold myself in a different way. This helps put you in the right place mentally to play so the result is relaxed and delicate, as opposed to say, the blues where you need an amount of aggression in the note. You need to listen to a lot of that sort of music as well. There are nuisances that you need to be familiar with. For a Django Reinhardt session I did recently I immersed myself in his music, his melodies and rhythms. To get his sound right you need to play with two fingers the way he did. His vibrato was unique and has to be spot on if you want the Django feel. I found pictures of him and looked at the way he held the guitar, his physical stance. What this does is help you understand a bit of the personality behind the music so you have more empathy and respect for the music.

DS: Your knowledge of theory is remarkable and you're a great sight reader. How does this help?

MJ: It's all about vocabulary. The greater your vocabulary the more effectively you'll be able to communicate ideas. Music is a language after all. When you can apply all of these things and communicate them musically you can then just relax and play. It's all relevant like learning all these different styles. I listened to Jerry Douglas solidly for a year to get my approach to the Dobro right and now it's absorbed as part of my playing so when the music needs that personality I can express it. Sight-reading gets you playing stuff you wouldn't normally think of and engages your brain in a different way.

DS: What was your practice schedule like growing up?

MJ: I didn't have a day off practicing guitar from when I was 16 till I was 30 on my honeymoon. I believed that everything else was a distraction. I'd even play on the toilet. I started by transcribing Zappa solos until I was able to play along to entire albums. I also learnt classical piano with a great teacher, which taught me a new attitude towards the music. Classical music is all interpreted with no improvisation, so to interpret well you need to be a great musician.
I love the piano. I used to listen to my Auntie play and we'd listen to the European piano competition. My theory was that if I could play piano it would add more legitimacy to my guitar playing.
All this time I was very focussed on different techniques. The difference between classical and jazz techniques would make you play different notes. Understanding this meant I was able to incorporate jazz melodies into blues and vice versa.

DS: How do you get such great tone? It doesn't seem to matter what instrument you play, acoustic to electric, you always have great tone?

MJ: Acoustically I knew the sound I was after for a long time. I just kept looking till I found the right instruments and once found I had them set up properly. This is very important. The right action, strings, pick or fingers, all these things play a huge part in tone. Electric tone is a bit more complicated. You need all the aspects of acoustic tone and then add amps and effects on top. You need to try out a lot of stuff till you find the sounds that work for you. If you're limited to what you can get, then you need to make the best of what you have, but this can be cool too. When I was playing in Pond Life I would sometimes be using three pedals just to get a sound I needed for one small section of the song.
TheGigRig Pro-14's been a revelation. I've always used pedals in the studio to get a lot of different tones, but now I can do it live too. I'm on tour at the moment with Ray Davies (The Kinks) and I don't know what amps I'm going to be using from one night to the next. I specify what I want but it depends on what they can get me. Using TheGigRig I always get the best out of whatever amps I'm using. If they're out of phase, no probs, just hit a button and it's sorted. Very cool. It gives you great confidence. I've toured all over the world with it and done albums, live radio and TV including Conan O'Brien and The Jay Leno Show, and it's been great. It's also important to remember that every player will sound different on the same rig. This is why you need to find the things that work for you. You also need the confidence to say, "This is what I want to sound like". Don't be prejudiced about things cause you limit yourself that way. Be objective and honest. Your individual technique also has a lot to do with your tone. I've never seen two great guitarists with the same technique. The cool thing about this is that you can adopt aspects of these techniques to help you get some of these nuisances.

DS: Can you give a few tips on expressive playing?

MJ: If you work too hard on playing fast your wrist will lock in a certain position and this blocks expression. It gives you a 1 dimensional approach. You need to balance this with intervallic exercises. This will open up your ears. Listen to players with this approach like Tal Farlow and Wes Montgomery. There are some great books that teach you this like Technique Development in 4ths for jazz improv by Ray Ricker. Also things like octave displacement are great for getting you out of a normal linear approach. Play a normal major scale but every second note play the octave higher.
One great exercise is to find the phrases in songs and solo's that you like and practice them in all keys. Doesn't have to be guitar, can be a great vocal line or sax, even something rhythmical.

Mark Johns Fave's

Favourite amps:
Fender Vibroverb and Pro Reverb
Mesa Boogie Lone Star
Cornell 20Watt Plexi Head
70's Music Man 2x12
Riviera

Favourite Guitars:
Tailor steel string
Liikanen Nylon string
G&L Strat
Gibson L5
Lebeda Dobro

Favourite Effects
TheGigRig Pro-14
Old Tube Screamer
Fulltone FullDrive2
Holy Grail Reverb
E.H. Memory Man
Roland Space Echo
E.H. Bad Stone
E.H. Electric Mistress
Crowther Hot Cake
Menatone TBIAC
Original RAT
Big Muff WAH from 70's

Favourite Albums:
Frank Zappa - Over Night Sensation
Mile Davis - Kinda Blue
Stevie Wonder - Innervision
Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King
+50 others